Embodiments of the present specification relate generally to power converters, and more particularly to systems and method for determining an effective inductance in the power converters.
A power converter is typically employed to interface a power source to one or more electric loads. In particular, the power converter is used to control flow of power from the power source to the one or more electric loads. Generally, the power converter has a primary side and a secondary side, where each side includes solid state switches. These solid state switches are used to rapidly and/or intermittently interrupt or commutate an input current from the power source so as to effectuate conversion of the input current to an output current having different amplitudes and/or frequencies at the one or more electric loads. In one example, the power converter may be a direct current (DC) power converter that produces an output power at a substantially constant output voltage and/or current.
Furthermore, the primary and secondary sides of the power converter are magnetically coupled to each other via use of one or more magnetic components. In one example, the magnetic components may be a primary winding and a secondary winding of a transformer. In general, the power converter is operated at higher switching frequencies to reduce the size of the magnetic components in the power converter. However, at higher switching frequencies, parasitic elements such as leakage inductance of the magnetic components or any interconnecting cables may become more dominant and may result in a higher voltage drop and a lower power output from the converter. Therefore, it is desirable to determine an effective inductance in the power converter to control the current and to estimate a potential power output of the power converter.
In a conventional power converter, an estimate of the inductance value is typically provided by a component manufacturer. This estimated inductance value is used for determining the potential power output of the power converter. For example, if a transformer is used in the power converter, the estimated inductance value provided by the manufacturer is indicative of the inductance of the transformer in the power converter. However, the power converter may include other parasitic components that cause the effective inductance in the power converter to be different from the estimated inductance value. Some examples of the parasitic components include electrical cables that are used for coupling the solid state switches in the primary and secondary sides of the converter to the transformer to facilitate transfer of electrical power from the power source to the electric load. As the switching frequency in the power converter increases, the value of the voltage drop across the parasitic components also increases. By way of example, as the power converters are built with wide bandgap semiconductors like silicon carbide (SiC), the voltage drop across these semiconductors may be higher when compared to the voltage drop in classical semiconductors like Si. In certain situations, this voltage drop across these semiconductors may have values that can no longer be neglected. This voltage drop may in turn result in an additional power drop in the potential power output of the power converter.